Michel Pereira‘s coach has predicted that the Brazilian will be a UFC champion one day. ‘Demolidor’, who has been with the UFC for seven years now, was signed to the promotion owing to his exciting, dynamic athletic style of fighting. With a background in the flamboyant martial art of Capoeira, based around kicks and acrobatics (video game fans may recognize the martial art from the ‘Tekken’ series where the character ‘Eddie’ was a fellow practitioner of Capoeira), the fighter has a proclivity for backflips, jumping kicks, and spinning attacks in the octagon.

This, needless to say, has made him an exciting fighter to watch. Given the unorthodox and rare nature of his style, it must not be an easy task to train the fighter because of his uniqueness. And ahead of his UFC 301 clash against Ukrainian Ihor Potieria this week, let us take a look at where, under, and with whom he trains.

All about ‘Demolidor’s gym & teammates

While Michel Pereira is known for his unconventional style of fighting, his combat sports training began with rather conventional martial arts. At the age of 12, ‘Demolidor’ started learning karate at the tender age of twelve. At sixteen, he, like most fellow Brazilian martial artists started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

In time, the Brazilian native would go on to earn black belts in both martial arts, with his karate belt coming under the tutelage of Rene Colares and his BJJ black belt under coach Savio Roveno. The fighter turned professional in 2011 and used to train at the Scorpion Fighting System based in Brazil.

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This move may have been influenced by the two consecutive losses he suffered in 2019 and 2020. And the move seems to have worked as expected since Pereira has been on a 7 fight win streak. And ‘Demolidor’s yet-to-be-filled coach, thinks the Brazilian has everything it takes to become a UFC champion.

In 2020, one year into his UFC stint, perhaps to shake up his training, the fighter switched to the Overcome Academy, headed by Rafael Alejarra. The MMA gym is home to former MMA superstars and champions such as Cris Cyborg, Wanderlei Silva, and Rodrigo Nogueira.

Michel Pereira’s coach expects big things from him

Michel Pereira was signed to the UFC after going viral. However, ‘Demolidor’s coach, is confident this is not the case. “He’s not just an attraction, he’s destined to win the belt,” he said in an interview. “[Pereira] is versatile. He knows what he can or can’t do it, but Michel is a serious candidate for the title. We’re coming. We’ll get there with time.”

“I think that moving here changed his head. He got out of his comfort zone. He’s here by himself. No family, new friends, so he focuses more. He was living the life in Brazil. He’s living the fight here, basically. That makes the difference in the end,” his coach said. However, the Brazilian still remains unranked since then, despite his undefeated run.